Changing the Future by Changing the Past
by SonicDeathMonkey483
Summary: 13 people are brought together from different time zones to read Harry Potter and PS. May bring in more characters later. Please read and review be nice coz this is my first ever fanfic I do not own Harry Potter it belongs to J.K.Rowling.


"OUCH!" yelled twelve people in unison landing on the floor in the room of requirement. A thirteenth person who was already standing there grinned happily.

"Oh good, you all got here OK." She said, "It was quite tricky pulling you all here from two totally different time zones."

"What the hell are you on about lady?!" Blurted out a boy with long, thick, black hair, "And who the hell are you and that lot over there?" When he said this he pointed to five teens that had landed on the opposite side of the room.

"Uh…" said a boy with bright red hair.

"Don't worry I'll do the intros." said the girl. "These are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. They are from the year 1997. And for the future lot these are James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Severus Snape and Regulus Black from the year 1977, and before you ask you are in the year 1987 directly between the two."

"Wait a sec!" yelled James. "You said his name was Potter. Is he, like my son or something coz we look exactly the same!?"

"Yep, I am."

"WICKED, I HAVE A SON!!"

"I'm surprised any girl could live with you as a husband I definitely couldn't," snorted Lily.

The five from the future exchanged looks of amusement at this.

"That's a point who is your mum?" asked James curiously.

"Can't say yet sorry wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." Harry said looking down quickly so no one could see his green eyes. This failed when he glanced up a few moments later and caught Remus's eye. Remus noticed the eyes and raised his eyebrows. Harry smiled slightly at him and motioned to him to stay quiet. The others hadn't noticed anything.

"So would you mind telling us why we're here coz I really don't want to be stuck with two Potters and a Black for no reason?" Severus said, clearly wanting to get the ordeal over with.

"Oh yeah that could be useful couldn't it? Well I have brought you all here so you can read this book." She held up a book with a title reading _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. _The future group looked surprised.

"There's a book about it!?" Said Hermione apparently surprised but no doubt slightly pleased that she Harry and Ron had a book written about them.

"Oh, not just the one, there are seven actually one for each year."

"EVERY YEAR!" Blurted out Ron, "We have SEVEN books written about us! Bloody hell I'd have thought people knew it well enough already without reading books."

"Well actually no not everyone knows about it. That is why I brought it. So the people from the past can know what happens in the future if they behave in one way and so that they can, if they want to, change it with different actions so that the world will one day be a better place without so many dead."

"Wicked," grinned Harry. "Think about it guys. If we do read this book we can also get to know people from the past and see how they act together. I may be very entertaining." At this point he looked specifically at James and Sirius. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Malfoy seemed to understand and all of them, except Malfoy who didn't seem to like the idea at all, grinned too.

"OK then, you're all agreed that you will read this book. I'm going to leave then because I have other business to attend to. I'll come back in a few chapters and maybe I'll bring a few other people." With that she turned and walked out of the door but just before it closed she stuck her head back through again. "Oh yeah by the way you may be here a while. Harry, you and your friends know how to use the room so you can sort it. And also you can use magic but not anything too dangerous. There are times when you may want to hex each other but please don't try to use powerful ones because the room won't let you." The door closed and there was silence.

"OK, so who's going to read first?" Said Hermione clearly keen to start.

"I will." Remus volunteered. He picked up the book opened it and started to read.

**The Boy who lived**

"Who's that?" Asked Sirius.

"Duh, it's Potter." Said Malfoy jerking his thumb at Harry.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley **

"Nice name." commented James.

**of number four Privet Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal thank you very much. **

_(I get lazy at this point coz it takes a long time to write what they're doing. I'll redo it another time)_

Sirius: Who likes being normal? Being weird is so much more fun!

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious,**

Harry: Too bad

**because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings,**** w****hich made drills. **

Sirius: Drills?

Lily: Muggles use them for making holes in things.

Sirius: Why all you need to do is punch a hole in it? Who needs a machine to do it for you?

**He was a big beefy man with hardly and neck, although he did have a very large moustache. **

James: He sounds pleasant

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent much of her time craning over garden fences spying on neighbours. **

Hermione: Doesn't she have anything better to do?

Harry: Nope.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley****and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

James: Yeah there is! My son is probably twice as good as he'll ever be!

Severus: I doubt it if he's related to you.

Harry and James: Hey!

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted,****but they also had a secret,**

Ron: dun dun duhhhh

**and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it; they didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. **

James: What's wrong with Potters?!

Regulus, Severus and Lily: A lot!

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursleys sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, **

James: I doubt my wife want a sister like her either!

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband**

James: I am not good for nothing!

Lily: Wanna bet

**were as unDursleyish **

Peter: Is that even a word?

Remus, Hermione, Lily and Severus: No

Ron: Well it is now

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived on the street. **

James: Probably something like "wow they look so cool"

Sirius: Of course mate

Regulus: snort

**The Dursleys knew the Potters had a small son too,**

Harry: Enter me!

**but they had never even seen him, this boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; **

James: What they didn't want him out shining Dudley

**they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

James: There is nothing wrong with my son

Lily: Apart from the fact that you're his father

James: Oh come on Evans you know you love me really

Lily: Dream on Potter, dream on

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the Dull grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work **

Sirius: Sounds fun

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair.**

Everyone: Brat

**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window.**

**At half-past eight Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a temper tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. **

Everyone: Brat

"**Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number fours drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map. **

Peter: Very strange

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. **

Sirius: Did he break his neck in the process?

Remus: Sadly no.

Sirius: AAWW

**There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? **

James: He can think?

**It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

James: Sirius bet you 10 galleons that's Minnie!

Sirius: You're on!

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no **_**looking**_** at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. **

Remus: No but McGonagall does

James and Sirius: Call her Minnie!

Remus: Why?

James: Coz it annoys her like hell.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except the big order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

Peter: Why drills? Why not something interesting like a veletision

Lily, Hermione, Harry and Remus: Television

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. **

Ron: Oh no! What a tragedy!

**As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. **

James: What's weird about cloaks?

Lily: Muggles don't wear them, idiot.

**He supposed this was some new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a handful of these weirdoes close by. **

Ginny: We are not weirdoes!

**They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't exactly young at all; why that man had to be older than he was and wearing an emerald green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – These people were obviously collecting for something…****yes that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived into the Grunnings car park, his mind was back on Drills.**

Draco: Why would anyone want to think about drills all day?

**Mr. Dursley sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might've found it harder to concentrate on Drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. **

Lily: Why aye wizards being so care less?

Harry: You'll see soon.

**Most of them had never even seen an owl at night-time. Mr. Dursley however, had a perfectly normal, owl free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. **

Severus: How pleasant.

**He was in a very good mood until lunch-time when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakers opposite. **

Remus: He could use the exercise.

**He'd forgotten all about people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the bakers. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why but hey made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on the way back past him that that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

'**-yes their son Harry-'**

**Mr, Dursley stopped dead. **

Peter: He died?

Hermione: Sadly no, it's only an expression.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. **

Ginny: Coward!

**He dashed **

Ron: He can do that?

**back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, **

Harry: Poor woman.

**and seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache thinking… No, he was being stupid. **

James: He's realised!

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. **

Sirius: It is in the Wizarding world.

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was**_** called Harry. **

Lily: Even I have to admit that is really bad for an uncle, even an uncle of a Potter.

Harry: Hey!

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might've been Harvey. Or Harold. **

James: Never, those names are way too old fashioned for my son.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley. She always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if **_**he'd**_** had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks..**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on Drills that morning **

Severus: Oh what a pity

**and when he'd left the building at five o clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

Harry: Poor man.

"**Sorry," He grunted **

Hermione: I'm surprised he knows how to apologise.

**as the tiny man stumbled and almost fell.**

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that mad passersby stare: "don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice! For You-know-who has gone at last! **

James and Sirius: WHAT!!!

Lily: Is that serious?

Harry: Yep but sadly it doesn't last very long.

Severus and Regulus: He's gone…

James: You see!! Told you he was no good.

Remus: What got rid of him?

James: Bet it has something to do with Harry!

Sirius: What makes you say that?

James: Well 1) The books named after him 2) People were whispering about him and 3) He's related to me so it has to be him!

Remus: Shall we shut up and let the book tell us?

Everyone else: Fine.

**Even muggles like yourself should be celebrating this happy, happy day!**

**And the old man hugged him around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. **

Severus: Non-magical person.

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, **

Sirius: He can imagine?

**which he had never done before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

Sirius: Aah that sounds more like him.

**As He pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he noticed saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

James: Minnie has markings around her eyes. You are so gonna lose that bet Paddy!

'**Shoo!' Mr Dursley said loudly.**

Remus: Won't work

**The cat didn't move. **

Remus: Told you

**It just gave him a stern look. **

Peter: That has to be Minnie.

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr. Dursley wondered? **

James: No but it is Minnie behaviour and it is Minnie.

**Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word (Shan't). **

Everyone: Brat

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight,****there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The news reader allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain that I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early****- ****It's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

Harry: Bet that shocked him.

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters… **

James: Yay! Potters RULE!!

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. **** "****Err - Petunia, **

Lily and Severus: Wow, coincidence

Remus: What is?

Lily: My sister's called Petunia.

James: Oh yeah, that means you're my wife!

Lily: No way. It could just be a coincidence. Anyway I would never ever ever marry you!

**dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

Severus: That does sound like your sister Lily.

Lily: Shut up Sev, don't encourage Potter.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?" **

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…" **

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley. **

**"Well, I just thought… maybe ... it was something to do with … you know ... her lot."**

James: "OUR LOT!!"

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'. He decided he didn't dare. **

Remus: Coward.

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

Harry: As if!

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

James, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sirius, Remus and Lily: OY!

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something. **

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did … if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that****even if the Potters were involved,****there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect them...**

Harry: You wish.

**How very wrong he was.**

Harry: Told you.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. **

James: That has to be Minnie.

**It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when the two owls swooped overhead****.**

**In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.****A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

Peter: Apperated.

**The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.****Nothing like this man had been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

Everyone: Dumbledore.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

Everyone: Yeah we know.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

Remus: Yep, Minnie.

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket.****It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

Sirius: He smokes?

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

Sirius: That is cool!! Where can I get one?

Ron: You can't, he invented it himself. There is only one in the world and it just happens to be mine.

Sirius: Oh no fair.

**He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

Ron: It's called a deluminator.

**until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.****If anyone looked out of their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer ****b****ack inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat.****He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

James: Yes!! I told you. Cough up Padfoot!

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

Sirius: He's never seen a cat sit so stiffly.

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

Sirius: That's weird.

Lily: Well you'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day.

**"You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

Lily: OK that's really weird.

James: Why would she have been sat there when she could have been celebrating?

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating?**

James: OK that is getting a bit annoying.

**I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here. "Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful,**

**but no - even the Muggles noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls ... shooting stars ... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle.****He never had much sense."**

Peter: Wasn't he in 6th year when we were in 1st?

**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

Severus: Eleven years? That means this is set in 4 years time.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes swapping rumours."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

Peter: A what?

**A what?"**

James: Ha now Wormy's doing it too!

**"****A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, **

Regulus: Bet she doesn't think it's the moment for sherbet lemons.

**as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons.**

Severus: Oh no, not you too.

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like your self can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was un-sticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice.**

James: I call him Voldy.

Sirius: Me too.

Remus: Me three.

Harry: I call him Tom. It's much more fun.

Lily: Tom?

Harry: Yeah that's his real name.

James: Weird.

**"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

Ron: That's because you're the only wizard Voldemort was every frightened of.

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the one You-Know - oh, all right, Voldemort -was frightened of"**

Ron: OK enough with the repeating!

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

Hermione: That's because he's too noble to use them.

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

Everyone: Stop doing that!!!

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

Ginny: Too much information there.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared?****About what finally stopped him?"**

James: Yes what did?

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

Sirius: I would not like to be on the receiving end of that.

**It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.**

James: Oh no, not us.

**The rumour is that Lily and James Potter**

James: YES!!! I told you!!

Lily: NNOOO!!!! Why would I marry you? I'd rather die than marry you!!

**a****re - are - that they're – dead**

SILENCE

James: What…no…not my Lily.

Lily: Great, I'm married to Potter and I'm dead. Could my life get any worse?

Severus: Well technically you're dead so actually you should be saying could my death be any worse.

Everyone else: SHUT UP

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James .. I can't believe it ... I didn't want to believe it ... Oh, Albus…"**

James: She does care about me!

Regulus: Can't see why. After all the times you've annoyed her.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know .. I know ...;" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.**

Lily: No, not my son!

Harry: Calm down. I'm sat right here. How could I do that if I died?

**"But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy.**

Harry: See. I lived.

**No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

Lily: My son defeated Voldemort! OMG!!

James: See I told you! I told you it had something to do with Harry! My son's amazing!!

**Dumbledore nodded glumly. "It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done ... all the people he's killed ... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding ...of all the things to stop him ... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

Remus: That's what we want to know.

**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

Harry: Oh shut up you know exactly why. Stop saying you don't.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took out a watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

Ron: Yay Hagrid!!

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. **

Lily and James: NO WAY

Lily: You cannot take my son to Petunia!!

**They're the only family he has left now."**

Harry: Unfortunately.

"**You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't."**

Sirius: Yeah Minnie you tell him. Hey, why aren't Remus Peter and I there? We should be rescuing our Godson.

Harry: You were all a bit caught up.

**I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets.**

Everyone: Spoiled brat.

**Harry Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

Lily: A letter? He thinks he can explain it all in a letter?

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?**

Lily: Enough already!

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

James: Damn I hate it when he's right about these things.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course.**

Sirius: Don't back down Minnie you could still win.

**But how is the boy getting here Dumbledore?"**

Ron: Good question.

**She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it."**

Ginny: I doubt it.

**Hagrid's bringing him."**

Ron: Good old Hagrid.

**You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

Harry: I'd trust Hagrid with my life.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

Harry: Oh come on that's nearly everyone. The only ones left are Ginny, Draco, Remus and Severus.

James: They'll do it by the end of the book.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, **

Ginny: But you can't pretend he's not careless.

**"but you can't pretend he's not careless. **

Harry: Well done Ginny. Maybe they'll do it by the end of this chapter.

**He does tend to - what was that?" **

Sirius: Yeah what was that?

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

Sirius: I WANT THAT BIKE!!!

James: Shut up Paddy we're going deaf

Sirius: So it's a cool bike!

**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide.**

**He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets. "Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

Sirius: Yeah where? I want to go and get one.

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me. **

Sirius: OH YEAH I HAVE A FLYING MOTORBIKE!!!!!!!!!

Everyone: SHUT UP!!

**I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."**

**Ginny: Aaaww, you sound sweet.**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Remus: Is that where - ?

Harry: (Lifts his fringe) Yep

**"Is that where - ?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

James: See Harry, only two to go.

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever**

Severus: Couldn't you do something about it?

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

Severus: Great I'm doing it too.

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

James: Really?

Sirius: We have to get him to show us that.

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid.**

**He bent his great shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

Hermione: I agree.

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

Sirius: Dog? I don't like that comparison.

Draco: Shhh! You'll wake the muggles you idiot!

Harry and Ron: He's not an idiot!!

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

James: YES!!! Everyone's done it!

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

Lily: (Sob) Neither can I.

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out****...**

Sirius: Never seen that before. Can't be good.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. **

Sirius: Yeah you'd better.

**G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply****.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street.**

**He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. "Good luck, Harry," **

James: That's all he can say!

**he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door****to put out the milk bottles, **

Lily: Ooo torturing him before he can even walk.

**nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley ..**

Everyone: Brat

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

_(Now I switch back to proper sentences)_

"Well that's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" said Remus holding up the book.

"I will." offered Hermione taking the book and beginning to read the next page.


End file.
